Chapter 425 New Starting Lineup (First Update)

Two days later, the Pelicans ushered in their first game of the season against the Clippers at home.

After the Clippers introduced Rivers this season, their defense has been reborn, and the team's strength has also increased.

Their current record of 12 wins and 5 losses is second only to the Thunder and Spurs, ranking third in the Western Conference.

The Pelicans have just entered the top eight, and it is undoubtedly more difficult to play against such a strong team.

But Tang Tian is still the biggest advantage of the Pelicans.

Although the combination of Jason Smith and Davis fell short in the face of the combination of Jordan and Griffin.

But the Clippers couldn't restrict Tang Tian's performance well.

Whether it is Willie Green at the back line, Matt Barnes at the forward position or Jared Dudley, the defensive strength is far inferior to the Warriors' Iguodala and Thompson.

Not to mention JJ Redick and his ilk.

Tang Tian scored as many as 25 points in three quarters, helping the Pelicans keep the point difference within single digits.

However, at the most critical moment of the fourth quarter, Gordon's two consecutive snap shots caused the Pelicans to collapse.

The Pelicans also ended up losing 91-106.

Tang Tian scored 31 points and 3 assists this time.

After the game, the reporter interviewed Griffin, the inside core of the Clippers, on the sidelines. He scored a large double-double with 25 points and 15 rebounds in this game.

"Does the victory over the Pelicans make you more excited? Because Don is on this team."

The question asked by the reporter was a bit skinny. Tang Tian had played for the Spurs for the past two years, and the Clippers had been ravaged by the Spurs a bit.

"No, it's just an ordinary regular season for us, and the Pelicans are not our main competition."

Griffin's answer was very concise. He didn't seem to take the Pelicans seriously, let alone mentioning Tang Tian's name.

Losing to the Clippers is not unacceptable to the current Pelicans, but this way of losing is a bit aggravating.

Williams felt it.

At the end of the next day's practice session, he called Gordon into his office.

"Eric, you need more possession of the ball, you need to dominate the ball to give full play to your advantages, you are not a shooter, you also need to shoot to find the state, so after discussing with the coaching staff, I am going to let you be the team the sixth man."

"Trust me, I know what you're thinking, and I'm totally thinking from your point of view. You're a good scorer, but you're easy to target because of your height. Standing up from the bench will bring more to the team. s help."

"Of course, we all know your strength, so at the last critical moment, you will still be the team's choice on the field. Believe me, this decision we made is the best way to help you get out of the current performance dilemma. You can still prove yourself."

Williams is very good at developing players, and this is due to his excellent people skills.

He is always able to make the people who communicate with him understand that what he says is based on their interests.

The NBA is a business league. For players, no matter what they do, the ultimate goal is to make more money.

Williams' words are very contagious and convincing.

Gordon was finally persuaded.

Williams has a point.

Tang Tian is playing so well now, it is impossible for the Pelicans to allow him to be the main offensive point. Instead of competing with Tang Tian in the starting lineup and exposing his weak defensive weakness, it is better to be the sixth man on the bench.

In this way, he is still the team's first choice for at least most of the time on the court.

And Williams also gave him the guarantee of being on the court at critical moments.

Coupled with Tang Tian's behavior against the Warriors, he finally agreed.

Gordon agreed, and in the next day's training session, Williams announced the team's new starting lineup.

On the outside are Holiday and Morrow, on the front line are Tang Tian and Davis, and center Jason Smith.

After announcing the new starting lineup, the coaching staff also put forward new requirements for Aminu, asking him to practice three-pointers.

In the original starting lineup, Gordon and Anderson's three-pointers are very stable. Now that they are both on the bench, the Pelicans' three-pointer ability will be a problem.

In modern basketball, no one is restrained beyond the three-point line, and they will be targeted severely.

That's why the coaching staff temporarily arranged for Morrow to start.

But this is not a long-term solution. Because of his physical condition, Morrow's defense has not been very good, and it is impossible to get better.

In contrast, Aminu's defensive ability is much better, but his problem is that the three-pointer is unstable.

Compared with Holiday, who shoulders organizational tasks, and Davis, who is an insider, Aminu is more likely to practice a stable three-pointer.

And if you really want to dig deeper, Aminu also averaged 1.8 shots per game and a 32% shooting rate in his rookie season with the Trail Blazers.

It's just that the Pelicans coaching staff didn't need him to shoot later, and it slowly degenerated.

This decision received a positive response from the majority of the team.

Gordon's performance in the game actually hurt the team, and Tang Tian has actually proved that he is one of the core of the team with his performance for more than a month.

And there is another advantage to this arrangement. Both Gordon and Anderson went to the bench, and the Pelicans' weak bench has become stronger.

The day after the starting adjustment, the Pelicans started their five-game trip in the East.

The opponent in the first game of the game is the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks are in a period of reconstruction. Last season's core Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings have left the team one after another, and now there is no leader.

They are currently ranked last in the Eastern Conference with 3 wins and 15 losses.

Against such an opponent, it is undoubtedly a good thing for the Pelicans who have just adjusted their starting lineup.

The result of the game was not too surprising.

Tang Tian scored 21 points in three quarters, and the Pelicans finally beat their opponents by 20 points.

Morrow, who entered the starting lineup, scored 4 three-pointers and 12 points in the first game. In terms of three-point ability alone, he is actually more stable than Tang Tian.

The victory of this game was expected. The only small episode was probably the young player Antetokounmpo's envious eyes towards Tang Tian at the end of the game.

For young players, Tang Tian became the core of the team in the third grade, which is enviable.

After playing the Bucks, the Pelicans followed up with the second Pacers in the East.

The first three quarters of this game were very intense, but in the fourth quarter the Pelicans experienced a lot worse, and finally lost to the Pacers by 16 points.

Although he lost, Tang Tian's performance was still remarkable. He made 11 of 24 shots and scored a team-high 30 points and 4 assists.

After resting for two days, they continued their Eastern Conference road trip, this time back-to-back.

They played against the top eight Raptors and Eagles one after another.

The Raptors are now ranked third in the Eastern Conference and are strong, but the Pelicans finally defeated their opponents after four quarters of fierce fighting.

Tang Tian scored 36 points, 7 assists and 3 steals on 12 of 29 shots in this game, blowing out DeRozan and Gay on the opposite side.

Gordon and Anderson on the team's bench also showed their bench strength, scoring 16 and 14 points respectively.

This victory boosted the morale of the Pelicans and proved that the coaching staff's arrangement was correct.

Thanks joabjoy for the reward.